John Fenster

@mountmccabe.bsky.social

580 Followers 416 Following

I love bodies of water and opera and other music/theater. Cats, baking, tea. They/them. Westchester County.

Coffee grinder on a marble counter next to a digital scale. The grinder is missing the cup the ground beans would be collected in. There is a window with a shade in the background. It almost appears to be in black and white.
Bows at the end of an opera. Several rows of spectators are in the foreground, in white seats with red cushions. On stage is a long row of people holding hands. Behind them are tall columns and a human-sized shrine, gilded and ornate.
Crow, standing in the shade on an asphalt driveway, with brickwork and grass. The crow is in profile and has their beak open.
Banner on the corner of a building that says Black Swan in all caps with a black feather
Tabby cat sitting up backwards on a dining chair; left paw resting on the back, right paw dangling over, face inquisitive but also pleased
View of the stage in Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall. It is packed with chairs and already has an orchestra's worth of players warning up. There is elaborate wainscoting (I think) and three harps.
Program page. Text reads New York Philharmonic Semyon Bychkov, Conductor BRUCKNER (1824-96) Symphony No. 8 in C minor (1887, rev. 1889-90; ed. Nowak, 1955) Allegro moderato Scherzo: Allegro moderato - Trio. Langsam (Slow). Scherzo da capo Adagio. Feierlich langsam, doch nicht schleppend (Solemnly slow, but not dragging) Finale: Feierlich, nicht schnell (Solemn, not fast) THIS CONCERT WILL BE PERFORMED WITHOUT AN INTERMISSION.
Dark blue wallpaper with flowers and repeated portraits of Frida Kahlo blowing a pink bubble with gum
Program page held with an elevated view of the blurry stage in the background. New York Philharmonic May 27-30, 2026 Elim Chan, Conductor Carter Brey, Cello Noriko KOIDE (b. 1982) Swaddling Silk and Gossamer Rain (2022; New York Premiere) SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921) Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 33 (1872) Allegro non troppo Allegretto con moto Tempo primo (played without pause) CARTER BREY Intermission PROKOFIEV (1891-1953) Selections from Zolushka (Cinderella), Opp. 87 and 107 (1940-44)
Black corvid on a power wire with blue sky and light clouds above
Black corvid (Fish crow?) rests on the cast iron shepherds hook that holds up an empty bird feeder
Black corvid standing on a brick wall of a raised garden bed. Some sort of evergreen spills around and in the background is green trimmed grass and a brick walkway. The bird is focused on a Ziploc bag of peanuts which sets next to a soup takeout container holding diced meat.
Program book above a cement walkway. Text: VOICES of ASCENSION DENNIS KEENE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Thursday, May 21, 2026 at 7:30pm The Church of the Ascension 36 Fifth Avenue New York City CANTICLE OF THE SUN BETH WILLER, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AND CONDUCTOR TOMMY MESA, CELLO JON GILLOCK, ORGAN PAOLO BORDIGNON, ORGAN CLARA WARNAAR, PERCUSSION COLLEEN BERNSTEIN, PERCUSSION OSCILLATIONS: 100 YEARS AND FOREVER ELLEN REID ALL MY SALT FALLS SHORT | CELESTE ORAM (WORLD PREMIERE) LOUANGE À L'ÉTERNITÉ DE JÉSUS | OLIVIER MESSIAEN CLYTUS GOTTWALD APPARITION DE L'ÉGLISE ÉTERNELLE | , ARR. OLIVIER MESSIAEΝ SONNENGESANG (CANTICLE OF THE SUN) | SOFIA GUBAIDULINA
Train tracks with industrial trappings, in a station. There is a yellow concrete pillar in the foreground and another item sticking up in the background which might be metal plumbing pipes? The object of interest is a dark brown barrel with four metal legs. A crow is resting on the corner and there is a plastic hose that appears to be behind it. At first glance it may appear to be a large, ahem, barrel-chested dog such as a Rottweiler.
Blank black stage floor, large blank white screen in the back, harp, piano, and several more chairs on the right along with two instrumentalists warming up. Blurry in the foreground is a program that says Vanessa in red
Medium hair tabby cat flopped out in the sun. She is on her back laying over part of a folding chair, legs and belly floof sticking out wherever, mouth slightly open showing off two fangs
Flyer for BMP: Next Gen 3. There are pictures of the two composers, Anuj Bhutani and Harriet Steinke
Line of singers in colorful costumes on a flat stage surrounded by blue curtains. Four characters are dressed as Frida Kahlo, one each for Diego Rivera, Catrina/Keeper of the dead, Greta Garbo/drag queen in a huge teal dress, and several villagers
Gabriela Lena Frank and Nilo Cruz getting a huge ovation in front of the cast and production team
Art piece in red and blue. The blue suggests (is, I guess?) a bedframe. The red is in the middle but also spreading out from the top and bottom. It looks like a tree with growing roots and thick branches out the top, but this blood red color suggests arteries. The background shows blue curtains on the walls; there is also an exit and the edge of a large Diego Rivera painting. There is also another person, taking a picture from the opposite side, though they are mostly hidden.
Pic of a TV screen. In the middle is a dancer in a half black half white costume, left arm and leg up getting ready for a dance spin. Both the floor and the wall behind have dots in a large grid. The scene is lit yellow and there's yellow tube lights in a line almost out of frame.
Crow, seen through a pane glass window (that is a little dirty). The crow is in a narrow, shaded area between buildings with square stepping stones and bits of grass sticking through.
Human in jeans, a grey sweater, and a sandal on a foot prominent in front, sitting on a blue squared soft chair. A tortoiseshell cat is lying on a white pillow against them, and a brown and white tabby is laying on their lap. It is bright, inside, with a wood floor and off white walls. There is a hydroponic plant rack behind them.
Mise en place with ingredients mostly diced to be cooked. There's a maroon cutting board with a knife on it. There are small glass bowls with green beans, shallots, scallions, along with a takeout box of rice and cut up pork chop, plus various sauces and toppings
Stage, currently dimly lit blue. Some of a chamber orchestra is on stage warning. There is also a small table with two chairs and a small rock with a very small tree
Marble sculpture abstracting a swan with two connected pieces/sections, a body and a neck. This is on a pedestal. It is natural/gray/off-white
Marble sculpture on a concrete pedestal. It's not quite as big as a surfboard and the shape is a little more like a handmade stone knife. Title: Fish
Frida Kahlo - Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair (Autorretrato con pelo cortado) 1940 Oil on canvas painting. Frida sits in a yellow chair in a wide dark suit. The brown and light blue background of the painting are repeated on the wall.
Model of the stage for El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego
Wall with maroon bold all caps text: Frida and Diego and a picture of the two artists
Pic of a TV screen. Man with dark trousers and white loose shirt has his arms sticking out, standing next to a concrete (looking) block that has a hole carved out for a human leaning forward. A lady stands looking away
Pic of a TV screen. Image looks red/sepia. A man is standing on a large slab with his hand on a child. There are old, busted statues horizontal on the slab, also appearing to be an adult figure and a child. Behind them is a screen with a dense forest. This is Golaud and Yniold; the latter is in some distress.
Pic of a TV screen with a border of dark wall. There is a single figure with white cloth draped over her including her face, and she is biting into a whole orange. Behind her is a blank screen, in a pale dirty blue. It is Mélisande from the opera by Debussy.
Two cats lie on a wood floor in the sun near two potted plants. They are near a sliding door. The grey and white floofy Maine coon is spread out, the brown tabby is curled against the plastic drain bowl of a Dusty Miller. Yes, I know this plant is toxic; it's not normally there and I'm watching them.
Program page held up with the distant lit domes and columns (I don't know what these things are called) of the interior of a cathedral. Text: PROGRAMME Richard Strauss Metamorphosen (String Septet Arrangement) Missy Mazzoli Dark with Excessive Bright (Violin Solo and String Quintet Arrangement) PERFORMERS LAKE GEORGE MUSIC FESTIVAL ALUMNI Giancarlo Latta, violin (Mazzoli soloist) Gregory Lewis, violin Benjamin Kronk, violin (Mazzoli only) Bethany Hargreaves, viola Jiawei Yan, viola Sam DeCaprio, cello Matt Armbruster, cello Charles Paul, bass
Steps with large pillars down, with a tree covered in purple flowers overhanging it. In the background is just a bit of a large cathedral
Program page. CARNEGIE HALL FESTIVALS UNITED IN SOUND: AMERICA AT 250 Thursday, April 30, 2026 at 7:30 PM Joan and Sanford I. Weill Recital Hall Calder Quartet Benjamin Jacobson, Violin | Tereza Stanislav, Violin Jonathan Moerschel, Viola | Eric Byers, Cello PHILIP GLASS (b. 1937) String Quartet No. 2, "Company" (1983) Movement I Movement II Movement III Movement IV BEN JOHNSTON (1926-2019) String Quartet No. 4, "Amazing Grace" (1973) SAMUEL BARBER (1910-1981) String Quartet in B Minor, Op. 11 (1936) Molto allegro e appassionato Molto adagio Molto allegro (come prima)-Presto INTERMISSION
Large banner on the right side of the front of the Met Opera House. It is white with black text and drawing. At the top it says Frida and Diego then it has line drawings of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. It's still rather light out but the glowing light behind the house says sunset is coming.
Red program book held in front of a stage, dimly lit blue. There is a piano in the middle of the stage. The program says Clara: Sex, Love, and Classical Music. By Elena Mazzon, Directed by Colin Watkeys
Posters on a sign board. The top one reads Alkemie presents Eleanor: a new chamber opera about a medieval trans icon. Below that there is a cutout white sign that says SOLD OUT! and has the email info@alkemie.org as a contact.
Program page with a blurry stage and large protection screen in the background. New York Philharmonic Barbara Hannigan, Conductor / Soprano (New York Philharmonic conducting debut) Clemens Malinowski, Video Artist (New York Philharmonic debut) Etienne Démoulin, Sound Designer (New York Philharmonic debut) R. STRAUSS (1864-1949) Metamorphosen, A Study for 23 Solo Strings (1945) POULENC (1899-1963) La Voix humaine, Tragédie lyrique en un act (The Human Voice, Lyric Tragedy in One Act), FP 171 (1958)
Two racks of baby back ribs covered in bark and reduced bbq sauce on a stainless steel grate at the top of a smoker grill
Large boxy garbage bin (commercial size) filled with plants including many white to pink orchid blooms
Oncidium sphacelatum, "Sunbeam", large plant with small yellow flowers with maroon spots
Blurry photo of a five piece band on stage. The lighting makes everything look a little pink but several of the players are really wearing pink
Stage set with chairs, a bed, a sewing machine, and a background of draped red curtains. There is a central backdrop looking up on a blue sky with fluffy clouds
A cherry blossom tree covered with pink blossoms, over a trimmed green lawn
Piotr Beczała with sculpted 50s hair staring at the white feather he is holding in his right hand, wearing a cream-colored long flowing coat/robe corded and fluffy that I initially called bouclé but that doesn't suggest stands this long? It really does look like a very clean Komondor or Puli (Hungarian sheep dogs, the later likely first brought to the area by the Magyars around the time the opera is set). Watermark in the top corner says Arte Concert.
Cast and conductor lined up, holding hands, accepting applause after the performance. The actors are on the set behind the singers, as are the stage crew wearing black gloves. The two-story set has rooms open; the nearly empty room above has a wooden door, fluorescent lighting, and a light wall with (fake) blood midway, dripping down
A grey cat jumps at a rainbow dangle toy, which crosses the entire field of view at an angle. Her exposed belly is cream grey with some spots and her legs are outstretched as she closes in on the toy
A bunch of carnivorous white-topped pitcher plants in a lush green space. There is a plant ID that says Sarracenia leucophylla.
A human lounges on a couch, arms clutched to their chest as they get confused by hearing the DuckTales theme played by 8 cellos. A floofy grey and white cat stretches out on a blanket on their legs. There is a large silver water bottle in the background, and a teal rhinestone (is this not rhinestones?) pillow in the foreground
Floofy grey and white Maine coon cat curled up, with his head tucked under a portion of his tail. He is on a striped blanket over some legs
Pages of the program, including a black and white pic of the composer, George Lewis. Relevant text: Instrumentation: three flutes (one doubling piccolo), three oboes (one dou-bling English horn), three clarinets (one doubling bass clarinet and B-flat contrabass clarinet), three bassoons (one doubling contrabassoon), four horns,three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bongos, snare drum, tom toms, floor tom, triangles, cymbals, tam-tams, castanets, brake drum, cro-tales, vibraphone, flexatone (with bow), police whistles, bass drum, thunder-sheet, xylophone, almglocken, harp, and strings, plus a solo ensemble compris-ing two percussionists (performing on bongos, snare drums, log drums, talking drums, cymbals, thundersheets, triangles, spring coils, brake drums, police whistles, crotales, xylophone, orchestra bells, flexatone (with bow), almglocken, marimba, and vibraphone) and two key-board players (playing piano, melodica, and harmonium, with one also playing celesta and the other also playing harpsichord).
George Lewis (near the center), Yarn/Wire, Kwamé Ryan, and the NY Philharmonic. Fish-eye pic of the stage at David Geffen because they're using the entire width to fit the percussion and keyboard instruments
Page of a program. Adapted text follows New York Philharmonic April 8-10, 2026 Kwamé Ryan, Conductor (New York Philharmonic subscription debut) Yarn/Wire, Ensemble (New York Philharmonic debut) Golda Schultz, Soprano IVES (1874-1954) The Unanswered Question (1906-ca. 1941) George LEWIS (b. 1952) ...ohne festen Wohnsitz (2026; World Premiere-New York Philharmonic Co-Commission with Philharmonie Luxembourg) YARN/WIRE Russell Greenberg, Dustin Donahue, Percussion Laura Barger, Julia Den Boer, Pianos Intermission FLOYD (1926-2021) The Trees on the Mountain, from Susannah (1953-54) BARBER (1910-81) Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Op. 24 (1947; rev. 1950) STRAVINSKY (1882-1971) No Word from Tom, from The Rake's Progress (1948-51) (All sung by GOLDA SCHULTZ) BARBER Second Essay for Orchestra, Op. 17 (1939-42)
Aleksi Barrière and Sofi Oksanen enter from stage right, with the cast and production team applauding them. Sofi is wearing a purple dress, Aleksi has jeans and a sports coat and is holding aloft a white book (libretto, vocal score, full score?)
Cast and conductor lined up, holding hands, accepting applause after the performance. The actors are on the set behind the singers. The two-story set has rooms open; the nearly empty room above has a wooden door, fluorescent lighting, and a light wall with (fake) blood midway, dripping down
Cast, actors, conductor, creative team, librettist and translator on stage. Set is a two story building on a turntable.
Banner for an opera hanging on the side of the Met Opera. The sky is light blue and slightly cloudy. The banner is black and white and reads in all caps Innocence.